HARIPUR, April 18: The 108th festival -- Jashn-i-Hazara -- has brought joy to the region and people are celebrating the arrival of spring. The four-day annual festival that opened here on Thursday and would end on Sunday. It is a regular event held during the wheat harvesting season in Haripur district since the year 1900.

NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour inaugurated the 108th festival at the Curtis Ground. District Nazim Haripur Yousaf Ayub Khan, MPA Raja Faisal Zaman Khan, union council nazims, officials of different line departments and district government, members of sports committees, players and people from different walks of life were present on this occasion.

On the opening day, players entertained visitors with horse dance, individual tent-pegging and session tent-pegging. While the students of Centennial Model School-1 (for boys) presented physical training shows. The cultural event included Hazara dance, Ludi, and motorcycle shows.

During the festival, players will present Kabadi, wrestling, horse dance, tent-pegging, bull-race, stone-lifting, stick-fight, judo karate contest, marathon race and other sports.

Local species of buffaloes, goats, cows and horses will also be brought to the festival while the handicrafts of the region would also be put on display at the Meena Bazaar.

Meanwhile, speaking to the participants of the event, the senior minister eulogised the efforts of district government, which was providing entertainment to the locals.

He said the new government in the NWFP had inherited flour and law and order crises. Factional fighting in certain areas was going on and suicide attacks were claiming lives of innocent citizens.

He said the coalition of the three mainstream political parties -- ANP, PPP and PML-N -- would bring peace back to the province. He said the flour crisis would also be resolved soon.

Mr Bilour said that the provincial government was taking all out efforts to tackle the issue of militancy in the NWFP. If dialogues failed then the government would utilise state machinery to curb militancy.